Download - Us & The American Dream
US & THE AMERICAN DREAM
Heidi Hackemer Strategist
@uberblond
This is a love story
Americans are dreamers and believers
OpenKind
GenerousBelieving
ClosedAngryFearfulResigned
What is the American Dream?
The American Dream, the root of our culture, is one of the greatest stories
ever
(Why not Brazil?)
(Why not Brazil?)
The American Dream is a social contract between Americans and the
government
A government of the people, by the people, for the people
The government creates the conditions so that individuals can follow their
dreams
It’s a social contract that got perverted
Brands, the government & churches
The 20th century storytellers of the Dream who defined what it is and what it should lead to
“The American Dream today is white, Christian, linear, heterosexual
and all about buying shit.”
Our promises of consumption are increasingly ringing false
It’s a social contract that is (nearly) broken.
A government of the people, by the people, for the people
We’ve learned that the Executive branch is fallible
Legislative? Yup.
But not the JUDICIAL!!!
wtf.
Income has tumbled since the recession hit, and is still 8.3% below where it was in
2007
Since 1967, Americans right in the middle of the income
curve have seen their earnings rise 19%, while those in the top 5% have
seen a 67% gain
According to Labor Department data, about 1.7 million workers earned the minimum wage or less in 2007. By 2012, the total
had surged to 3.6 million, with millions of others
earning just a few cents or dollars more
home ownershipis college even worth it?
realities of upward mobilityunemployed 20-somethings
veterans coming home with little supportboarded up Main Streets
catastrophic weather events
Heartache in the country
sense of lossloss of trustloss in something bigger to believe in
yet, despite it all...
(and this is why this is a love story)
Being an American means being a pioneer, being someone that isn’t
afraid of a challenge. Even with everything that’s going on, I’m still proud of this about us.
We’re living in America, and that’s a dream. It’s still the best country on earth.
I can’t make the politicians stop being idiots, but I can help out at the local soup kitchen and volunteer to coach my kids. So I do.
The American Dream might be in peril -the American Spirit is alive
Belief and doing is getting local & tangible... because that’s what people
feel is real
what does this have to do with us?
Like I said, this is a love story
We need to stop fucking around
We need to change our stories
Our relevance depends on it
Orient our brands around a purpose
Give our brands a reason for beingnot just a reason for selling
Make the world a better place using technological
intelligence
Let people live better lives by helping them
save money
Deliver happiness
brands with purposetell more honest, provocative, meaningful, fun
stories
brands with purposetend to make more human, thoughtful, interesting products and experiences
brands with purposedo (and not just talk)
(check out the work of Stengel and Milward Brown)
in closing...
With great power comes great responsibility
thank you.
“The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for
each according to ability or achievement.”
“It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall
be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they
are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.”
James Truslow Adams, 1931